Rejecting the charter of demands submitted earlier by the proscribed militants group, National Democratic Front of Bodoland that is now in truce, the Indian government has set a one month deadline for the tribal militant group from Assam to submit a fresh charter of demands within the purview of the Indian Constitution.

The Centre has made it clear that failure of the outfit to submit a fresh charter of demand will lead to scrapping of the ceasefire that is now in operation between the militant group and the Indian forces.

The NDFB which has been in truce with the government since May 2005, had earlier submitted only one demand before the Centre--the liberation of 'Bodoland'--that has been rejected outright by the government.

The Centre, meanwhile, has extended the ceasefire with the NDFB for one more month till end of September, doing away with the practice of six-month extension of the truce.

The actual negotiation between the government and the NDFB has failed to take off so far as the militant group has failed to submit a detail charter of demands despite its continuing 'consultation with civil society groups within the Bodo tribal community'.

In the meantime hundreds of NDFB cadres are lodged in truce-time camps even as the outfit's fugitive commander in chief or the chairman Ranjan Daimary alias D Nabla continued to remain outside the country.

The NDFB has been maintaining that the peace talks could be started by the government on the basis of the whatever demands it had already submitted and is game to assess what concessions it can elicit from the Centre on the basis of its demands during the course of negotiation.

But the government is in no mood to play to the tunes of the militants group and has decided to adopt a tough posture regarding the demands of the outfit.

The government, in principle can't hold talks with the NDFB on the basis of its current demand for sovereignty or liberation of Bodoland given that the it is the 'demand for restoration of sovereignty of Assam' that has been the stumbling block in holding dialogue with the banned United Liberation Front of Asom.